It is the first episode of the documentary series “Matera 15/19”, that describes the Basilicata and South
Italy for a duration of four years, starting in 2015, for the occasion of the international event that has
proclaimed the Città dei Sassi (literary “City of Rocks”) as the European Capital of Culture 2019.
Lina was born in the Sassi di Matera, her husband Vito came back home after having been an expat in
Germany, running away from the poverty and recession of the 1950s. Lina took care of a family of three
children and six nephews, while Vito tried to pursuing his dream of becoming a Hollywood actor, working
on several movies shot in Matera such as “Il Demonio” by Brunello Rondi.
Together they are The Volpes, a family from Matera that decided to come back and stay in that city that was
once called “the shame of Italy”, but which today has become the hope for a south Italy that is looking for a
redemption. These are the protagonists of Episode I.
Their daily routine overlaps with enthusiasm with the background of the celebrations for the 627th
Madonna della Bruna which brings to Matera an incredible number of tourists, together with the thoughts
on personalities and institutions linked to the history of Basilicata and the proclamation of Matera as the
European Capital of Culture 2019.